


Fall back

by Elisexyz



Series: Amy and Maria verse [3]
Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Not Canon Compliant - s02e11-12 The Miracle of Christmas (Timeless), Platonic Cuddling, background garcy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23025130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elisexyz/pseuds/Elisexyz
Summary: He’s made it three quarters of the way already before he realizes where he’s heading.
Relationships: Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston, Rufus Carlin & Garcia Flynn & Jiya
Series: Amy and Maria verse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1368211
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21
Collections: Found Family Bingo





	Fall back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissCrazyWriter321](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissCrazyWriter321/gifts).



> This is a fill for the "Platonic Cuddling" prompt on my Found Family Bingo card on Tumblr.  
>    
>  I actually started writing this fic _ages_ ago, as a companion to a fic that was published almost a year ago, inspired Caitlyn's comment on it (shocking, I know). For some reason, I picked it back up and re-wrote the whole thing, and here it is! Honestly, I kinda missed writing Timeless.  
>    
>  It's set in the middle of the first fic in this series, so maybe you should check that out for context. Enjoy!

He was so quick to flee, his body panicking for air that had been sucked out of the room by Lucy’s words, that he only realizes that he has gotten out when the chilly air hits him in the face and the door closes behind him.

There isn’t much to do besides following his legs’ instinct to carry him away from there, away from — away from _Lucy_ , which is the very last thing he thought he’d ever want. Lucy was always his lighthouse, his beacon of _hope_ even in the darkest of times, she — she is not someone he is supposed to need to escape from.

They are only words, he tries to remind himself. She only said a few words, there is no need to — hell, he did so much _worse_ to her. She still sleeps soundly beside him every night, does she not?

But then again, she was always better and stronger than he could ever hope to be.

He hates fighting with her. He hates the way he _gets_ when they fight, how his ugliness starts creeping out when the only thing that he can see is how much of a danger the world poses to his girls, but — but how can he _ignore_ it? He allowed himself that luxury once already and —

Lucy’s words cut through his head once again, cold and unforgiving, reminding him of what happened to the last child unlucky enough to call him her father. He knows that what happened is on him, that he might not have pulled the trigger but Iris and Lorena died as a direct result of _his_ actions. He has never stopped shouldering the blame for what he did.

He doesn’t know why it hurts so much to hear Lucy agree.

(Maybe because she was supposed to lie to him, try to tell him that he isn’t the monster he thinks he is. Lucy is hope and light, and perhaps that’s why things are not working, because he expected her to keep coddling him forever and — and she’s opening her eyes, as she was bound to.)

He’s made it three quarters of the way already before he realizes where he’s heading.

After living for so long all crammed together in a bunker, they found it somehow difficult to live too far off from one another, which is why Wyatt and Jessica live only at hardly half an hour by foot of distance, whereas to Rufus and Jiya he can get in about ten minutes.

He carries himself to the Carlins’ doorstep, moved by the urge to have someone to just shut down his thoughts, because he thinks he’d go insane if he kept walking but he can’t go back home, not when things are like _that_ , not when Lucy is so angry and —

Jiya opens the door, frowning in confusion, which is to be expected given the odd hour and that he didn’t even call. His eyes burn like hell, but he isn’t crying, so that’s something. He is shaking like a leaf, but it’s cold and he isn’t wearing a jacket, so that’s a good excuse.

“Sorry — it’s late,” he manages to get out, his voice hoarser than he would have liked.

“What — what _happened_?” she bursts out, worry exploding on her face all at once as she leaps forward, reaching to touch him, because she’s like that and she isn’t afraid that he will break her somehow, turn on her like a rabid dog. She gives him a onceover, rubbing his arms vigorously. “You are _freezing_ ,” she scolds him.

Her hands seem on fire against his skin, and a shudder runs up his spine as she keeps attempting to warm him.

“Alright, just — just get in, god — have you gone completely insane?”

She starts pulling him inside, and he hesitantly complies, cruel shouts still echoing in his head, his eyes burning more and more until everything becomes a blur. He blinks, and there are tears rolling down his cheeks. He would wipe them away, but that would mean shaking Jiya’s hands off him and — and he doesn’t want that.

The sight seems to leave her frozen and at loss of words for a moment, her mouth opening and closing a couple of times until she swallows heavily. “Okay, okay, sorry,” she says, quickly, gently stroking her thumbs against his arms. “That was uncalled for — can we go in?”

He wants to say that it really isn’t about her, but the words won’t come out, so he only nods and follows her into the familiar hall. She moves away to close the door behind them, and he’s already internally weeping in anticipation for when she will let go of him, but instead she slides one hand into his, closing the door with the other.

She offers a gentle smile before tugging him along. “Come on. Couch.”

As they walk past the stairs, she stops for a moment, looking up.

“Rufus!” she shouts then. “Come down here!”

It takes a few moments for the answer to come. “Unless it was a serial killer eager to kill you, I’m staying here.”

“Well —” Jiya mutters, the hint of a smile on her face, but by taking one look at him she seems to understand that making the expected joke about serial killers is probably not the best idea. “Just come down!” she eventually answers.

Garcia feels a little like an idiot, or a dog at least, while she sits him down, giving him a worried look. Perhaps coming here wasn’t a brilliant idea after all, because he isn’t sure he can bear to _explain_ this.

Rufus comes down with some unhappy grumbling.

“So, what was so important that — oh.”

Garcia quickly adverts his gaze from him, but he’s not quick enough to miss the way his eyes widen when he sees him.

“Uh — hey, Flynn — uh, are you — are you okay?” Rufus eventually asks, shifting nervously on his feet.

Jiya doesn’t say anything, sitting down right next to him, pressed against his side and keeping his hand in between hers. He isn’t sure if that helps or if it only makes him more chocked up.

“It’s nothing —” he tries to lie, though he chokes half-way through the word, because all he can think of is Iris, and Lucy, and how massively he’s screwing _everything_ up — “I had a fight with Lucy,” he eventually says, barely above a whisper.

There a few moments of silence.

“What a fight it must have been, uh?”

Rufus’ comment hangs in the air for a while, maybe because they want to give him space to elaborate. He isn’t sure he wants to, though — hell, he probably _shouldn’t_. Badmouthing Lucy behind her back is just not something that is going to make him feel any better.

Eventually, Rufus proposes a Star Trek marathon, because that’s the perfect solution to any evil in the world, and that almost brings a smile to Garcia’s face.

He finds himself sandwiched between the two of them, Jiya shamelessly wrapped around him, Rufus taking him arm in arm without a word. They start making commentary like they _haven’t_ seen the movies about a thousand times each, and though he can still feel the pain from the fight, though Lucy’s words are still hanging in the back of his mind, it helps.

It's familiar and safe, enough to remind him that, even if his family _were_ crumbling down, he’d have someplace to fall back to.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates comments, including: 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason, feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


End file.
